A man from Canada has been indicted in U.S. District Court in St. Louis and accused of stealing more than $64,000 in cash from Walmart stores across the country using sleight-of-hand.
Mohsen Akbari, 37, was indicted on August 16 on one count of wire fraud and one count of interstate transportation of stolen property. He was arrested on September 5 and pleaded not guilty to the charges Monday.
The indictment says Akbari entered the United States on March 1, 2023, from South Korea on a visitor visa. Akbari then traveled across the country, entered various retail stores, and used sleight-of-hand to steal cash, the indictment says. After making a small purchase, Akbari would claim that he and his family collect Unites States currency, typically $100 bills, the indictment says. Akbari would ask the cashier to show him the bills in the cash register so he could examine them, and then surreptitiously place some of the bills into his sleeve or pocket, the indictment says.
The indictment accuses Akbari of stealing about $33,700 from 30 different Walmart stores in nine states from March 23 to June 8, 2023. The indictment says Akbari then stole a total of $2,420 from a Walmart in St. Peters, Missouri on June 12, 2023, $6,900 from a Granite City, Ill. store on June 13, $420 from an O’Fallon, Missouri store on June 14 and $900 from a store in Warrenton, Missouri the same day. He stole $580 from a Walmart in Eureka, Missouri, and $5,100 from an Arnold, Missouri Walmart on June 15, the indictment says. From June 20 to July 18, Akbari stole $13,992 from seven different Walmart stores in Illinois, Indiana, Virginia and Maryland.
Akbari would deposit the money in a United States bank account he opened and then wire funds to his bank accounts in Canada, the indictment says.
The wire fraud charge carries a potential penalty of 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both. The interstate transportation of stolen property charge is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and the same fine.
Homeland Security Investigations, the Eureka Police Department, and the Arnold Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle Bateman is prosecuting the case.
